The Liceu ends the season with the highest number of spectators in recent years and a warm reception from the public. Opera has once again taken center stage with standout titles such as 'Madama Butterfly' and 'La traviata'. The digital commitment also grows with the success of the Liceu OPERA+ platform, and the presence of a younger audience increases. Institutional and corporate support has made it possible to maintain a balanced program between tradition and innovation. The ÒH!PERA project strengthens the commitment to emerging talent.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu closed the 2024/25 season with 290,000 spectators, the highest figure in recent years, representing a 1.8% increase compared to the previous season and a 6% rise over 2022/23. This places attendance above pre-pandemic levels (around 280,000 spectators during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons) and very close to the record set in the 2015/16 season (295,000 spectators).
The Gran Teatre del Liceu also ends the 2024/25 season with a balanced budget of €54.2M. For the first time in many years, the Foundation reports no financial debt—an important milestone within the framework of the 2023–2026 Strategic Plan, which continues to advance steadily toward the project's artistic, economic, and social sustainability.
Once again, the Liceu has benefited from the continued commitment of public institutions, which support a balanced program combining tradition and innovation, contributing a total of €25.6M in regular funding.
Corporate and philanthropic support for the Gran Teatre del Liceu continues to grow. Sponsorship agreements for the 2024/25 season have reached €8.6M, confirming the upward trend of recent years and solidifying the private sector’s commitment to the theatre’s cultural mission. This increase reflects the growing confidence of both companies and individuals in the Liceu’s artistic vision, as well as in its educational, social, new creation, and youth programs such as the Under35 project.
The Liceu’s sponsorship program—constantly evolving and adapting to the needs of partner companies—has strengthened its role as a key pillar in the institution’s cultural development. Notably, the number of Benefactors has reached a record high of 275 members. This support has been essential in making the theatre’s artistic programming possible and achieving the season’s goals.
In doing so, the Liceu reaffirms its role as a cultural benchmark and a model of strategic partnership between the public and private sectors.
Opera leads with 173,000 spectators and a 90% occupancy rate
Opera performances have attracted nearly 173,000 spectators, with an average occupancy of 90%. Madama Butterfly and La traviata were the most watched titles, drawing a combined audience of 59,000. Other highlights include La sonnambula (over 17,000), La forza del destino (close to 16,000), and Mozart’s Requiem (just over 15,000).
Other formats such as dance (27,500 spectators), concerts and recitals (27,000), and family and school shows at the Petit Liceu (63,000) continue to maintain strong attendance figures and consolidation.
199 performances and 30 sold-out opera shows
The season offered 199 performances across 48 titles. On 30 occasions, the theatre reached full or nearly full occupancy (98-99%), such as all performances of La traviata, the Under35 series of Madama Butterfly, the screenings of West Side Story, Òh!pera, and various performances of La sonnambula and Lohengrin.
The Petit Liceu school shows sold out two out of every three performances. Other successes included the Afanador ballet from the BNE (85% occupancy) and concerts featuring Debussy and Ravel (95%), Asmik Grigorian and Matthias Goerne (87%), Nadine Sierra (86%), and Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczala (85%).
The average age of the audience remains at 51 years, with differences between subscribers (64 years) and non-subscribers (46 years). Regarding audience profile, one in four is under 35 years old, and 26% are 65 or older. The origin of spectators remains stable: almost half are from the city of Barcelona, 28% from the metropolitan area, and 17.5% are tourists, a figure similar to last season.
The number of subscribers has grown to 10,900, 400 more than the previous year (+3.6%), with over 16,400 subscriptions recorded (14,700 fixed-seat and 1,700 à la carte). À la carte subscriptions have more than doubled since their launch in 2018, establishing themselves as a flexible and expanding option.
LICEUNDER35: nearly 16,000 young people this season
The 24/25 season welcomed 8,400 young people to the five exclusive Under35 performances (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Afanador, Oh to Believe in Another World, Madama Butterfly, and La sonnambula). Additionally, 7,500 more young attendees joined other performances with youth tickets, totaling nearly 16,000 young people (+7%).
Currently, the LICEUNDER35 community counts nearly 37,000 members (12,000 new this season, +18%). The average age is 28 years, with 28% of members under 26 and 37% between 31 and 35 years old. Since its creation, nearly 40,000 users have enjoyed the benefits of the Under35 community.
An artistic project with its own identity and a global outlook
The 24/25 season has been a strong affirmation of Gran Teatre del Liceu’s commitment to artistic excellence, contemporary creation, and critical thinking. This season consolidated the theatre as a vibrant center of cultural production, open to the world and rooted in the country, capable of hosting the great voices of international opera while also promoting original projects with a distinct identity. With a total of 199 performances—84 operas, 15 dance shows, 27 concerts, and 73 Petit Liceu events—the Liceu offered an eclectic and demanding season, marked by very high artistic standards and a program crossing disciplines, generations, and perspectives.
Among the season’s highlights was the world premiere of the new production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich, directed by Àlex Ollé, which garnered significant international acclaim. Wagner’s Lohengrin, staged by Katharina Wagner and musically directed by Josep Pons, was also highly praised, as was the absolute premiere of Benjamin a Portbou, the first opera by maestro Antoni Ros-Marbà, a fundamental pillar of the country’s music. This was a deeply emotional moment, charged with memorial significance and a commitment to national creation.
Productions such as Rusalka by Dvořák, directed by Christof Loy and featuring the voices of Piotr Beczala and Asmik Grigorian, and La sonnambula by Bellini, with a refined stage direction by Bárbara Lluch and a star-studded leading duo—Nadine Sierra and Xabier Anduaga—were moments of exceptional vocal and theatrical power that will remain in the theatre’s memory.
The return of Calixto Bieito to the Liceu with Händel’s Giulio Cesare marked another milestone, with musical direction by William Christie and a historically informed baroque Gran Teatre del Liceu Orchestra, showcasing the exceptional health of the orchestra. Mozart’s Requiem, staged by Romeo Castellucci with music conducted by Giovanni Antonini, offered an artistic experience rich in poetic and conceptual density. A concert version was also performed at the Basilica of the Sagrada Família as part of the Under35 program, connecting with younger audiences in a setting charged with spiritual intensity.
Verdi’s La forza del destino returned to the Liceu with Jean-Claude Auvray’s imposing production and energetic musical direction by Nicola Luisotti. The cast featured great voices such as Saioa Hernández, Brian Jagde, and Artur Ruciński.
The major title Madama Butterfly by Puccini was presented with stage direction by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier and musical direction by Paolo Bortolameolli. This deluxe triple production was led by Sonya Yoncheva, Saioa Hernández, and Ailyn Pérez, who brought depth and emotion to one of the audience’s most beloved operas with a visual proposal focused on an unforgettable Japanese imagery.
Verdi’s La traviata was undoubtedly one of the season’s highlights, leaving the audience speechless with the stellar performance of Nadine Sierra and the always moving voice of Javier Camarena. It was the soprano’s first performance of the season, firmly establishing her as the year’s leading star and capturing the hearts of the audience at the theatre on La Rambla. With a production by David McVicar and musical direction by Giacomo Sagripanti, the cast also shone with Ruth Iniesta and Xabier Anduaga.
In concert versions, audiences enjoyed Die Fledermaus by Strauss with Marc Minkowski, Idomeneo by Mozart with René Jacobs, and the heritage revival of La Merope by Terradellas, directed by Francesco Corti. The season culminated with two exceptional performances of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and starring Juan Diego Flórez and Nadine Sierra, closing the season with the utmost magnificence and an unexpected gift for the audience: the surprise appearance of Sondra Radvanovsky performing Somewhere.
The Liceu has also been the stage for major dance titles, with a program including Sémiramis and Don Juan with the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse and musical direction by Jordi Savall, Afanador by the Spanish National Ballet with choreography by Marcos Morau (La Veronal), and Hammer by Alexander Ekman with GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.
In the symphonic realm, Josep Pons led an intense season with programs such as Univers Mahler IV – Symphony No. 6 and A Night in Paris, featuring Debussy and Ravel. Recitals were another highlight, featuring legendary performances by Ermonela Jaho, Elīna Garanča, Sondra Radvanovsky, Piotr Beczala, Asmik Grigorian, Matthias Goerne, and Nadine Sierra, who appeared in up to four major concerts at the theatre.
With the Liceu de les Arts project, the theatre deepened its integration of visual, poetic, and theatrical languages, hosting artists such as Gerhard Richter, Sebastião Salgado, William Kentridge, Míriam Cano, and Inma Femenía, strengthening the dialogue between disciplines and expanding the cultural dimension of the artistic project. The season closed with a clear international projection, especially through Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Lohengrin, two productions that have established the Liceu as an opera reference with its own voice and a theatre with a strong Wagnerian tradition.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu Choir, conducted by Pablo Assante, demonstrated great solidity and artistic quality throughout an especially demanding season, both musically and theatrically. Productions such as Lohengrin, with Katharina Wagner’s new stage concept, and Castellucci’s Requiem tested their concentration, physical endurance, and collective work, resulting in performances of great expressive power and profound emotional impact.
Meanwhile, the Constel·lacions series has helped consolidate the Liceu Brass Ensemble and showcase the orchestra’s soloists, while the Concerts a l’Hivernacle, born with a focus on proximity and outreach, have continued to grow and build loyal new audiences through high-quality chamber music offerings.
A Liceu for Everyone: Educational Project
The educational project of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, LiceuAprèn, continues to grow as a key element of the Theatre’s commitment to education, inclusion, and social transformation. Using a methodology based on artistic experience to foster learning, expression, and critical thinking, the program reached over 60,000 spectators this season through Petit Liceu performances, with an average occupancy of 84.5%.
A total of 73 school and family shows were offered across ten different productions, such as La torre dels somnis, La cuina de Rossini, Trencanous-Jazz, and La nit de Sant Joan. Family shows gathered 27,460 spectators, with 75% occupancy, while 43 school performances brought together 33,079 children and young people from 518 educational centers, with 94.03% occupancy.
The 2024/25 season was marked by the consolidation of long-term projects and the launch of new educational and community initiatives. One cornerstone is the Liceu als centres program, which this season reached 25 rural schools in Central Catalonia (Lluçanès, Osona, Berguedà, Moianès, and Solsonès), involving 1,331 students and 234 teachers. The program combines teacher training, artistic workshops at the schools, and theatre performances, promoting interdisciplinary projects around various shows.
Another highlight was the participatory opera El monstre al laberint, involving 805 young people from 25 schools and 73 teachers, in collaboration with the Liceu’s artistic and pedagogical teams. Additionally, a project linked to La nit de Sant Joan was launched to promote the professionalization of young dancers, in collaboration with the Barcelona Provincial Council. The pilot involved 790 students and 25 teachers from 11 schools.
LiceuAprèn also promotes teacher training as a tool to strengthen the presence of artistic languages in education: this season, 572 teachers received training, with 443 participating in long-term projects and 129 in the transversal modules Matins LiceuAprèn. Furthermore, 24 artists from various disciplines collaborated in workshops and training sessions, contributing rigor and artistic quality.
The Families and Community program consolidated two initiatives: family workshops prior to performances (25 sessions with 2,301 participants) and the intergenerational opera project, with the production Rusalka, where young audiences (aged 16 to 35) represented 40% of attendance.
Moreover, the professional support and insertion project with the Conservatori del Liceu and the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation enabled the participation of 103 Conservatory students and alumni in 56 performances of 9 Liceu productions, fostering their professional development on an outstanding stage.
With a strategic and committed vision, this season also saw the establishment of the Educational and Social Advisory Council (Consell Assessor Educatiu i Social, CAES), composed of 12 experts in education, culture, inclusion, and social innovation. CAES was created to align the values and objectives of the Liceu’s educational and social programs with the needs of contemporary society, evaluating and enriching proposals from diverse perspectives.
25 Years of Petit Liceu: A Celebration with New Shows and Greater Access
The 2025/26 season will mark the 25th anniversary of Petit Liceu, and the Theatre will celebrate it with four new productions, special events, and an expansion of its territorial and digital reach.
The new shows are Simfònic en família, Al cor del Liceu, La jove Aïda, and a new production of Trencanous-jazz, which this time will be performed in the Main Hall. Additionally, the season will exceptionally start on September 20th with a performance of Òpera entre generacions (La petita guineu astuta), featuring special pricing and a format designed to promote intergenerational encounters.
As the inaugural event of the 25th anniversary, the Liceu will offer three free performances of La cuina de Rossini during the Festes de la Mercè, with a public raffle open to all citizens and tickets reserved for families at risk of social exclusion.
The new productions will be accompanied by educational projects and inclusion strategies to reach wider audiences. In this regard, La jove Aïda—a contemporary reinterpretation of Verdi’s opera with dramaturgy by Jordi Casanovas and digital set design by Onionlab—will premiere on a tour throughout Catalonia in February 2026 before arriving at the Liceu the following season.
LiceuApropa: Culture, Inclusion, and Social Transformation
The Gran Teatre del Liceu maintains a clear social vocation with the LiceuApropa program, which aims to guarantee the right of access to culture for all people and groups in vulnerable situations. During the 2024/25 season, numerous activities have been promoted with the objective of opening the doors of the Theatre and making opera an inclusive and transformative experience.
In collaboration with Apropa Cultura, nearly 3,950 people have attended the Liceu this season. The main groups that have attended the Theatre’s programming are, in this order: 1,185 Mental health; 800 Elderly; 336 Intellectual disability; 178 Childhood and youth.
One of the program’s highlighted activities is Òpera a l’abast, an informative session with live musicians followed by attendance at a general rehearsal. This season, it has been offered with six different titles and has involved 620 people.
Family workshops have also been offered for inmates of penitentiary centers and their children, linked to the shows La Barcarola and Miralls, which have allowed sharing a joint and meaningful artistic experience.
The Liceu has developed workshops for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, based on Petit Liceu titles such as La cuina de Rossini, El conte de Nadal, and Miralls. These same shows have also been presented in relaxed performances, adapted for people with ASD or other cognitive or developmental disabilities. These sessions include soft lighting, sensory rest areas, reserved seats to facilitate mobility, pictogram signage, and accessible materials.
The community opera project Opera Prima, developed in the seven neighborhoods of the Sant Andreu district with the support of the European Commission, continues to advance. This season the artistic team has been defined — with Blanca Bardagil (dramaturge), Tomàs and Lucas Peire (composers), Israel Solà (stage director), Manel Valdivieso (musical director), and Buia Reixach (chorus coordinator) — and the poster for La rosa dels set pètals has been created, a product of dialogue with the territory and the participation of students from Escola Llotja and users of Artenea.
On the other hand, Ritmes en companyia, a music therapy workshop aimed at people with mental health problems, has had the participation of 620 people. Two family workshop sessions have also been scheduled for inmates of penitentiary centers and their children, linked to the shows La Barcarola and Miralls.
Regarding childhood, the Liceu has organized introductory singing and opera workshops for children with autism spectrum disorder and their families, based on Petit Liceu titles such as La cuina de Rossini, El conte de Nadal, and Miralls. These shows have also been presented in relaxed performance formats, with specific adaptations of the space and environment to guarantee an accessible and comfortable experience.
The relaunch of the digital platform Liceu OPERA+
The 24/25 season was marked by the relaunch of the Liceu OPERA+ platform, which offers subscribers access to outstanding titles such as Madama Butterfly, La traviata, and La sonnambula. Compared to the last paid data from 2021, the number of subscribers has grown exponentially: from 1,000 in July 2021 to more than 7,000 currently, representing an increase of over 600%. This evolution consolidates the Liceu’s digital project as a stable and accessible way to enjoy opera, both for loyal audiences and new spectators.
Subscribers to the Liceu OPERA+ digital platform can already enjoy the entire 24/25 digital season: Madama Butterfly, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, La traviata, Lohengrin, Rusalka, and La sonnambula. The 25/26 digital season will begin with the live performance of The Cunning Little Vixen by Leoš Janáček, featuring Peter Mattei and Elena Tsallagova, scheduled for September 30, 2025.
More than 18 million views: the Liceu strengthens its digital presence
The Gran Teatre del Liceu closed the 24/25 season with a positive balance on social media, a key tool for connecting with the public. In total, the Theatre’s official channels have accumulated over 18 million views, with Instagram (12.1 million) and TikTok (1.4 million) standing out, the vast majority of which were organic. Facebook has also been a solid channel, with 3.2 million views and more than 62,000 interactions throughout the year, maintaining its importance as a platform for loyalty and intergenerational reach. During the season, Instagram gained 15,069 new followers, TikTok 1,648, Twitter/X 2,339, and Facebook nearly 1,400.
The most successful content has been that which shows spontaneous backstage moments, conversations with artists, or follows the creative process of productions. For the first time, a reel has neared one million organic views: a conversation between Ramon Gener and Nadine Sierra about La sonnambula. Additionally, the LinkedIn channel reached 149,000 impressions and a 14% engagement rate, notably higher than the platform average, highlighting strong interest from the professional audience. These figures confirm that the Liceu’s content strategy, focused on closeness, authenticity, and diversified formats, has enabled connection with new audiences and the cultivation of an increasingly active digital community.
During the 2024/25 season, the Gran Teatre del Liceu’s website received more than 829,000 unique users. Forty-four percent of the traffic came through search engines like Google, indicating active searches for information about the Liceu. Meanwhile, 30% of users accessed the site directly, establishing it as a reference space for a loyal and engaged community connected with the Theatre’s activities.
Users spend an average of over 3 minutes on the website and carry out nearly two sessions per visit, data that demonstrate a high level of interest in the content offered. Additionally, during the season, more than 3.2 million key events were recorded, including performance inquiries, ticket purchases, and downloads—mostly of programs—consolidating the website not only as an informational channel but also as a transactional and strategic platform. These figures reinforce the website’s importance as a central axis of the digital relationship with the audience, crucial both for attracting new users and for fostering loyalty and generating cultural impact through the digital environment.
The Liceu of the Future: Liceu Mar
In the 24/25 season, the consortium of the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Port of Barcelona launched the international architecture competition for the future second venue of the Liceu, Liceu Mar. The international architecture competition is expected to take place between July 2025 and June 2026, followed by the drafting of the preliminary project and the basic project between July 2026 and April 2027. The opening of the second venue at Port Vell is estimated for the year 2032, subject to the project's progress.
The main goal of Liceu Mar is to create an open space for all citizens, accessible and inclusive, that becomes a cultural landmark and a driving force in the city. The space aims to strengthen educational activities and the Petit Liceu, while also promoting contemporary creation through the establishment of the International Center for New Opera Creation. A stable dance season is planned, along with programming operas of various formats, such as baroque, chamber, or musicals. The venue will be multipurpose and suitable for multiple uses, fostering the development of public programs with sustainability criteria and management that includes sponsorship, space rentals, and catering as complementary funding sources.